Totico will be viewed on Weds the 26th from 2PM to 9PM at the Ortiz Funeral Parlor....615 Sound View Ave in the Bronx between Seward and Randall Avenues.

The funeral will take place the following morning at Holy Cross Church a block away. Internment will follow at St. Raymond's Cemetery.**There has been an amendment to the viewing on Weds. the 26th...Totico can only be seen between the hours of 2 and 5PM...5pm to 9 pm have been set aside to fulfill religious obligations of his beliefs. Please take this into consideration if you are planning to pay your respects

Sunday, January 16, 2011

The tunes "Pituka La Bella" and "Arrimate Pa' Ca" were written by Juanito Marquez and done in the "Ritmo Pa'ca", the rhythmic form attributed to him.Ritmo De Estrellas, my favorite South Florida Cuban Charanga band circa early '60's.With much influence by Orq. Aragon, especially in their tight crisp vocal style.With acoustic bass... so much more natural sounding than electric bass.This LP is now obscure and hard to find a copy in good condition.Many later pressings of this LP have very poor sound, with much of the bass very low or almost missing. The early pressings are the best, with the bass very full and the thick album cover with a very high glossy cover photo.

Cuban flautist Eduardo Aguirre and his Orq. Tipica Tropical.One of several popular Florida Charanga bands.I prefer the sound of band during the 1970's, which includes cover versions of songs originally done by Orq. Aragon, Maravillas De Florida, Los Latinos and Ritmo Oriental.Tipica Tropical during the 1970's, did not use trombones as they currently do.

"El Extranjero"Vinyl LP on Guiro19631. El Extranjero

The original "drunk smoking baby" LP cover.

They changed the cover photo after people wereangry about the image of a "drunk smoking baby".

1974 vinyl LP on the Mate labelIncludes several cover versions of Aragon songs andone song originally done by Maravillas De Florida.

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Welcome to Fidels Eyeglasses!

Cuban LP's and recordings which include particular "styles" and "forms" of (playing & singing) "Cuban" music that unfortunately have become, or are on their way to becoming lost art forms.As well as related materiel which may not be "directly" from Cuba.

Mostly LP's that are either long out of print and-or obscure and music from "my own personal collection".

Occasionally some Brasilian things will be added that are hard to find, even on the other great Brasilian blogs, many that are listed in my Blog links.And maybe some things that have nothing to do with Cuban or Brasilian music.

It takes time to do all this, scanning the covers, resizing and uploading, often changing & correcting the info.

****NOTE: DIVSHARE HAS GONE OUT OF BUSINESS WHICH MEANS MANY HUNDREDS OF SOUND FILES ON THIS BLOG WHICH TOOK 6 YEARS TO COMPILE ARE DEAD, SOME ARE STILL PLAYABLE, BUT UNTIL I FIND A NEW SOUND FILE HOST SERVICE, MANY WON'T PLAY.

About Me

Professional musician / percussionist.
Living, working and teaching in Manhattan, N.Y.C., U.S.A.
Born and raised in Manhattan, N.Y.C.
Lived in New Orleans from 1972 to 1986.
Produced and hosted the first Cuban music radio program in New Orleans on WWOZ from 1980-1986.
Been back in N.Y.C. 28 years and planing on getting the hell out very soon.